Who You Are
by Dust2Dust17
Summary: A couple of first-year members of Team CFVY learn to realize it's not what's on the outside that matters. Part of my oneshot challenge: 12 - You


The two first year students walked down the halls as they left their first class ever with quite possibly the fastest-talking person they'd ever been in the same room with.

"So, were you able to catch up with anything that guy was saying?" Coco asked her beret-wearing new teammate.

"I was hoping you did." Velvet asked back. "That professor was going much to fast for me to keep up with."

"Yeah. I wonder if Fox and Yatsuhashi's class went a bit better than ours." the brunette nodded as she started down the halls back towards the dorms.

"Well, let's head back and get situated while we wait for-OOF!" Velvet started before she bumped into somebody in front of her, knocking her to the floor. The man in front of her turned back to see what knocked into him.

"Oh, sorry!" Turk quickly apologized as he turned from his conversation with his new team, STRM, to face the two members of CFVY in front of them, one on the floor. "Didn't see you there, Velvet. You okay?"

"Yeah, I wasn't watching where I was going. Sorry, Turk." Velvet apologized back, turning to face the others, only to find they now had looks of genuine surprise on their faces. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"N-no...well, not exactly." Coco stammered, beating herself up inside for not realizing it earlier: she had never seen Velvet without something covering the top of her head, be it her beret or her sleeping cap.

"Well, what-" Velvet was going to ask before she looked back to the floor, realizing her beret fell to the floor when she was knocked down. What she had tried so hard to keep hidden was now out on full display: two long rabbit's ears sprouting from the top of her head.

"Velvet, why didn't you tell us?" Coco asked, surprised her team member was keeping this a secret so well despite only knowing her on a personal level for less than 48 hours. The panicking Faunus girl didn't give her an answer as her eyes darted between the group and a couple passing student murmuring to each other as they walked by, looking and pointing at her. Tears stinging her eyes, she turned on a heel, picking her beret off the floor and trying to stuff her ears underneath it as she ran off. "Velvet, wait!" her new team leader called after her, but she didn't turn back and continued back to the dorms.

"Vat vas zat about?" Snow asked, watching her run off.

"I think I know.." Mei answered solemnly before turning to Coco. "You don't have a problem with Faunus, right Coco?"

"Of course not! Why would me knowing this now make any difference?" Coco fought back at the accusation.

"Then go tell her before she just hides in your room for her whole time here." Mei gestured down the hall, the fashionista quickly going after her distraught teammate. "Was I really like that the first time I went out in Vale without my disguise?" she thought aloud.

"Nah. You were way worse than that." Rocco joked before he took an elbow to the gut from his childhood friend.

* * *

Back at the dorms, a hyperventilating Velvet had just slammed the door shut. She was so embarrassed her ears came out in front of everybody to see. She couldn't tuck them in at all on the way here in her state of panic, leaving everyone she passed to marvel at the Faunus trying to stick a hat over her ears, making her look even more ridiculous than she thought she already looked. The tears in her eyes finally flowing, she threw the beret across the room as she slumped against the closed door, sobbing quietly to herself.

"Hey, who's there?"

Velvet perked up to their bathroom door to her right as it creaked open, Fox walking out as he placed his completely tinted sunglasses over his eyes. "Don't look at me! I'm a freak!" she bawled as she tried to duck away from Fox's gaze.

The boy was perplexed at the scene in front of him. "What are you talking about, Velvet?" he asked, causing the crying girl before him to peak back out at him.

"Fox, I swear if you're having a laugh right now..." she said, quite upset.

"No, really." he said in his defense. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't notice the extra set of ears?" Velvet asked, pointing to her rabbit ears and causing the scarred boy in front of her to mouth the word "oh" to himself. "I'm a Faunus, Fox, and now the whole school knows."

"Oh. Yeah, that." he said, almost sounding like he had no idea she had them in the first place despite the ears being a very eye-catching feature.

Velvet raised an eyebrow as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Fox, do you not have a problem with Faunus?" she asked.

"I haven't since I don't really see that type of thing. People are just people; who cares what they look like?" Fox shrugged, like he was trying to play off something. Despite it, it seemed to brighten Velvet's spirits a bit.

"So we're still friends?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't we be? It doesn't change much, 'specially since I can't see you anyway..." he mumbled the last part, looking away from Velvet as she got up off the floor.

"What?" she asked, catching that last part with her acute hearing. "What do you mean you can't..." she trailed off as she realized what he meant. Velvet also remembered another feature about Fox: like she hadn't been seen without a hat on, he hadn't been seen without his sunglasses off. "Fox...a-are you...blind?"

With a heavy sigh, the scarred brawler slowly reached up and took off his glasses, revealing two milky white orbs on his face devoid of any pupils or irises. "Yeah, I am." he grunted.

"I should've known!" she gasped. "How didn't I see that about you?"

"Funny. I was gonna say the same thing." he replied quite sarcastically.

"Sorry, it's just...how do you do it? Without the cane or seeing-eye animal, I mean..." Velvet asked.

"I had alot of practice." Fox answered, giving in as he went to sit on one of the beds. "I was born this way, so I've never really seen anything until my Aura got unlocked. I can use it to see outlines and pick up vibrations, but other than that, I'm completely blind."

"I don't see why you would hide it though." Velvet commented as he finished his explanation.

"I'm already covered in scars, Velvet. Those I can't hide." Fox snapped. "I don't need everyone else seeing another exhibit of why I can't take care of myself. I didn't even tell my teachers back at my old school. Who wants the blind kid to be a Huntsman anyway if he can't see?"

"I do."

Both turned to the door, noticing they were so caught up in the conversation, they didn't hear Coco or Yatsuhashi enter the room. Fox quickly replaced his sunglasses back over his face as he turned away, but Velvet still hadn't retrieved her beret from where she threw it across the floor from her.

"Velvet, how come you didn't tell us that you were a Faunus?" the towering swordsman asked.

"Well, I figured..." she trailed off as she noticed Fox replaced his glasses on. "Fox, take off the bloody glasses! If I can't hide my trait, neither should you!" she snapped as she took the off for him.

"Hey! What the hell?" Fox shouted as his blank eyes were out on display. They were about to continue arguing before a shrill whistle from Coco brought them back to attention.

"Enough, both of you!" Coco ordered before she snapped her fingers. "Yatsu, close the door. We're having our first team meeting right now." Yatsuhashi complied as he shut the door behind him, taking a seat on the bed Velvet sat upon while Coco stood next to Fox. "Okay, you two." she started. "Reasons you were hiding these things from us. Now." she demanded.

Fox decided to explain first. "You already heard from me." he sighed. "I'm made of scars, Coco. It already shows I look like I can't take care of myself. Me being blind's just going to make it worse. I don't want to burden everybody else because of it."

Coco mulled over Fox's input before turning to her newly discovered Faunus friend. "Alright, Velvs. Now your turn." she ordered.

"In my old town, all of my family was ridiculed because of our ears."Velvet started. "Before I started combat training, my mom gave me that hat to tuck my ears under. That way, I'd just look like a normal girl and not...not a freak." she finished, looking down as she teared up again. A thick hand on her shoulder brought her gaze to meet Yatsuhashi's.

"Velvet, times have changed quite alot since the Faunus Revolutions. Some have become world-renowned heroes after they were allowed into the Huntsman schools around the world." Yatsuhashi explained.

"Yeah, exactly!" Coco nodded. "And not everybody with a disability isn't fit for duty. Doesn't General Ironwood from the Atlesian Military have a missing arm?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't rely on using his Aura to see." Fox dejectedly said. Velvet didn't seem to be any more cheered up as well.

"Tell you both what. Give me your hat and glasses." Coco demanded.

Both parties gave a confused glance to Coco before exchanging a look between each other. "What? Why?" Velvet asked.

"Simple." Coco answered as she picked Velvet's beret off the floor and took the crosshare pin from her lapel, tacking it to the hat before placing it on her head. "We had our first classes apart. For our first class together, we're all going as the real us. No disguises, no hiding our faces or ears; just the real Team CFVY."

"B-but what if people start saying things?" Velvet asked.

"Then we kick their asses to show them 'who cares?'" Coco answered bluntly as she placed Fox's glasses over her eyes. "You need to know that you both should feel okay with how you look and be okay with who you are. You guys feel any different, you're welcome to take them back. I'll just hold onto them for now for safe keeping."

Fox and Velvet exchanged a look again before the clock on the wall of their room started going off again. "11 o'clock. We've got a few minutes to get down for Professor Goodwitch's class." Yatsuhashi announced, looking at the class schedule on his Scroll.

"Then get changed up for combat practice, guys." Coco smirked. "Let's show them who we really are."

* * *

"Do you think Velvet's alright?" Turk asked, his eyes scanning the bleacher seating in the sparring arena for any sign of their fellow team among the other first years.

"She did seem pretty upset. Must be from a part of Remnant where Faunus aren't accepted like around here." Mei reminded. "Maybe she's really worried facing the rest of the class now that the secret's out."

Their conversation ended as the bell rang, the platinum blonde instructor walking in with her trademark crop in hand. "Good morning, students. Welcome to your Combat Techniques and Applications class. Here you will be training with one another to hone your skills and gain experience from fighting against a the variety of different weapons and martial arts you all possess." she greeted before picking up her tablet. "We will start with team roll calls. AMBR?"

"Present." their team leader greeted.

"STRM?"

"Present." Snow said emotionlessly.

"CFVY?" A moment passed with no answer. "Is Team CFVY here?"

"We are now."

All eyes shifted to the entrance to the hall in the back of the room as Coco walked in with the rest of her team in single file. Fox and Velvet looked between the other teams nervously, the brawler catching a whisper from somebody making note of his blank eyes, and Velvet of how somebody didn't know she was a Faunus.

"Miss Adel." Goodwitch boomed. "Consider this your only warning: Do not be tardy for my class again, otherwise, your marks will suffer for it."

"It won't happen again, Professor. I promise." Coco nodded as she took a seat in the row behind STRM, the rest sitting alongside her.

"I will hold you to that promise." she nodded before looking over the rest of the team, doing a double take as Fox and Velvet came into her gaze, the Faunus girl shying away as she saw the professor looking at her. "Miss Scarlatina? Mister Alistair?"

"Y-yes?" Velvet stammered, unsure of what was to come next. "Fox simply gulped. What they got as an answer shocked them.

"That's quite a beautiful set of ears, I must say. I'm glad you decided not to keep them hidden." she complimented. "And Mister Alistair, speak with me after class. I have some Braille textbooks you'll find much more useful than the standard ones you were given for your classes."

"It's not any trouble for you?" Fox asked.

"We've had vision impaired students in the past. Your condition is far from a trouble." Goodwitch smiled. "Take example from them, class. A Huntsman team comes in all shapes, sizes, and appearances. As long as you have the courage and tenacity, anyone of you can graduate with flying colors when your time here is done."

Velvet felt her heart skip a beat as she looked over some of the others, each giving her a smile and a nod of encouragement as she looked around.

"Good on ya, guys." Rocco whispered back while the class showed them their support.

"Now, enough about that. I think it's time we got down to business. Let's start with some ground rules..." Goodwitch began as their first class started.

* * *

"Good work on your match out there, Fox!"

"Way to go kicking that training bot's butt, Velvet!"

That was only some of the compliments the two received for their performance in some of the sparring matches Goodwitch orchestrated before the lunch bell rang and the teams of first years departed towards the dining hall. Coco's plan had worked just as they doubted it would, much for the better now that it was out in the open. Velvet finally had some confidence, and Fox had a set of textbooks he could actually study from. He was even given a better Scroll for blind users by Professor Goodwitch. Coco, catching the smile on her teams' faces, smirked as she took off the beret and glasses, handing them back to their original owners. "I think you guys earned these back." she said with a smile.

"Actually, Coco...I don't think I need it anymore." Velvet shrugged, looking at the hat in her teammate's hand, but not retrieving it.

"Same here." Fox noted. "I shouldn't hide something everybody knows about now."

Coco's smile grew wider as she looked back at the untouched accessories in her hands, then placed them back on herself. "Have them back at any time, you two. Now let's grab something to eat." she ordered as she fell back, the two walking in front of her with newfound confidence. A tap on her shoulder from their golem of a teammate brought her attention to him.

"You took them for your own gain, didn't you?" Yatsuhashi asked, guessing correctly at his leader's ulterior motive.

"Hey, it was a convincing arguement. They got some confidence, I got a hat and an accessory that matches this long-sleeve. It's a win-win." Coco shrugged cockily. "Besides, I saw your boxers while we were unpacking. You like rabbits, dontcha, big guy?"

Yatsuhashi quickly shut up with a flushed face as his leader laughed to herself. "That was a low blow." he mumbled.

"Oh, relax. It's all in fun." Coco said, waiving her hand in the air. "But in all honesty, I think you two would be a cute couple."

"Coco, please." Yatushashi begged her to stop as they continued on their way to the cafeteria.


End file.
